The centrality of the Panorama competition to the steelband movement cannot be doubted. However, there are some downsides to it receiving paramount attention. In the Newsday, early last week, Mark Lyndersay penetratingly labelled Carnival as “an entrenched competition economy” and summarised the deficiencies of Carnival in its current form as …
Read More »Vaneisa: Searching for a form—how to preserve our heritage
It’s an idea just taking root, and having thrown it out last week, I figure I could try to see how it could take shape. By headlining that column “A Ministry of Festivals” people got locked inside an idea of an entity akin to the existing Ministry of Culture, although …
Read More »Vaneisa: A Ministry of Festivals can be revolutionary—with Manwarren at the helm!
I don’t actually mean that we should have a ministry of festivals, in the sense of a state-controlled body—that kind of lumbering oversight has done little to develop anything meaningfully. Not for an entity that has to be agile and innovative and intimate with our history and traditions. Last year, …
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